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The man who said no

The man who said no. The day commemorates his defiance of Executive Order 9066, the government directive that incarcerated more than 110,000 of his fellow Japanese Americans in internment camps during World War II. Korematsu’s decision to resist an unconstitutional edict led to his arrest, conviction and disgrace — and then, three decades later, set the stage for a personal vindication and the establishment of a historical precedent whose implications are more relevant today than ever.

Interview on NPR on Riyaaz Qawwali

I was recently interviewed on NPR about Riyaaz Qawwali, a group out of Austin, TX. Hussein Rashid, a professor of religion at Hofstra University, says that many qawwaliartists working in South Asia today have limited themselves. He believes this American group is bringing the music back to its roots.  “You know, I think there’s been so much concern about what is Islam, and what isn’t, politically speaking and artistically speaking,” Rashid says, “that there’s been a push in modern qawwali to actually sanitize it and make it very sterile — and almost rule-bound — rather than ecstatic and devotional. For me, I think…

Post-9/11 ‘Arab Slayer’ Mark Stroman’s Last Words Offer Message Of Peace

Post-9/11 'Arab Slayer' Mark Stroman's Last Words Offer Message Of Peace. After a lifetime of bitter prejudice that drove him to kill innocent strangers, Mark Stroman died with a message of peace. Stroman, 41, was executed by the state of Texas on Wednesday night by lethal injection, punishment for a shooting rampage in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks that left two South Asian convenience store workers dead and another seriously injured.